Fun thread. I don't have a TV, but the Internet gives me a lot of options -- including just now watching an episode of Mind of a Chef on the PBS site, as I didn't know before seeing this thread that the show existed. Interesting insights.

YouTube has a fair number of great options, however, so I still have some fun. Being a food historian, while I love shows that feature current culinary trends, I very much value shows that show cooking through history. Eighteenth Century Cooking with Jas. Townsend and Sons is one such show. It's interesting to find out how many foods we eat today were available in the 1700s -- such as fried chicken and onion rings. Here's an episode on suet -- making it and using it. https://youtu.be/ypRsO9KdxXk

Not a cooking show, but definitely a food show is the Supersizers series (generally either Supersizers go... or Supersizers eat...) -- with those sentences being ended by anything from Ancient Rome to the French Revolution to World War II. Top British chefs and food historians are brought in to make sure the costumed hosts eat only what was available during the period being addressed. Not every recipe makes you want to head for the kitchen, but a fair number do look mighty good. (Want to try the Camembert en consommé from the court of Louis XVI.) Here's an episode from the Restoration Period, if you're at all interested. https://youtu.be/mUcGFsHPo4E

Jas. Townsend offers short videos with one recipe or topic each. Supersizers comes in hour-long shows. Love them both.

I think I've been remiss in not mentioning Martha Stewart's Cooking School before. I suppose it didn't come to mind because I only catch it occasionally on Saturdays. Today I'm watching an episode in which she does four flour-and-pan fry dishes: chicken piccata, sole meuniere, wienerschnitzel, and liver and onions. I feel more confident than before about being able to do any of these dishes after watching her do them.

I notice that she is precise about details (quantities, times, techniques), that there is nothing condescending or egotistical about her presentation style, and that there is a lot of useful information conveyed, as in every episode. She really is a good teacher. I know some people have strong feelings about Martha Stewart---and if you're one of those people, try to restrain yourself; remember, this thread has been declared a bash-free zone)---but I really find nothing to criticize about this show; it's very educational. I wonder if other episodes are on YouTube.

p.s., the only reasons I'm not as interested in her companion show Martha Bakes are that (a) I'm not a baker and (b) I'm not into desserts, and yes, I realize those two overlap. Perhaps someone who is either or both of those things will say what they think about that show. I watch, not planning to make anything she makes on Martha Bakes, but I see the same things I mentioned before: attention to detail and good teaching techniques.

It's only partly a cooking show, but I must say P. Allen Smith's Garden Home is growing on me. I ignored his shows until recently, but lately I've been tuning them in. I like both the gardening and cooking segments.

Katie wrote:It's only partly a cooking show, but I must say P. Allen Smith's Garden Home is growing on me. I ignored his shows until recently, but lately I've been tuning them in. I like both the gardening and cooking segments.

I just don't get the impression he cooks daily. I find him a bit stilted in the kitchen despite some rehearsal. When he did a canning demo, I was screen talking back.

I tend to turn the channel to another station when he's on.

I do like Scandinavian Kitchen a lot. Mom read Nigella Lawson commented he was a food writer and not a cook. I get a feeling of genuine effort from him, I don't get from T. Allen Smith.

Regards,

Well, you're a canning expert, so of course you'r talking back to the TV

Upon further reflection, I'd say I enjoy the gardening segments more.

HI,

I fired cable from our house in the early 1990's. Any cable television is either DVD's or in hotel rooms. Since digital television came to be, there are quite a lot of station choices via the magic of an antenna.

ion television broadcasts on 38-3 has a number of cooking shows with a Canadian bent:

'In the kitchen with ...' is a series of 30-minute chef profiles. Locally they have segments on Homaru Cantu, Gale Gand and possibly others. It's presently on at 8:00 am and 8:30 am on weekdays. I have never seen all the episodes.

'Fearless in the Kitchen' features people who are clueless in the kitchen who are brought up to shape or at least can make a meal for their family. I am not as impressed by their improvement, of course it is considerable. I am impressed by how little they know initially.

'Grocery Bag' has two women cook a number of dishes from a cookbook in a fixed period of time. There are sidebars where they evaluate an ingredient or product. At the end, a chef is invited to evaluate their food. If both women give the book a thumbs up, it is given their stamp of approval. Cookbook authors could learn better recipe writing by watching these ladies interpret their recipes.

To be continued ...

Cathy2 wrote:Any cable television is either DVD's or in hotel rooms.

I wonder, Cathy, do you use the internet in general or YouTube in particular to view cooking and other TV shows much?

I am not a big YouTube viewer, but I have found that every Jacques Pepín episode I've ever searched for has been available for viewing in full either on the KQED website or on YouTube. I presume many more cooking shows than I realize are available online. I know there are a lot of Good Eats episodes on YouTube (and on Netflix too, btw), and I like the fact that episodes of Gordon Ramsey's The F Word are on YouTube. (Say what you will -- or don't -- remember the bash-free zone rule -- about Gordon Ramsey, but I like The F Word).

In addition to Netflix, YouTube, and other internet sites, I've found the library is another source for cooking show DVDs. I got the DVDs for all of the Two Fat Ladies shows at my local library. My sister the librarian has been teaching me how to search for interlibrary loan options to go beyond what's at my local library.

Here's another thing I got from my library and have been going through lately: Pie in the Sky, a British combo police detective/restaurant kitchen series, starring the late and beloved Richard Griffiths.

Mind of a Chef season 6 Danny Bowien is available via Mind of a Chef's Instagram account @mindofachef link in bio. Interesting, fascinating, captivating, fun to watch. I'm mixed on the series, enjoyed watching April Bloomfield season 2 found season 1 with David Chang tediously self congratulatory. YMMV

Here is a direct --->>> link which may or may not work. I have an Instagram account, @lowslowbbq and subscribe to Netflix which may be why the link is seamless for me.

I should also add that Netflix per se does not have season 6 up yet, the Instagram link seems to be the only way to watch.

While I've had the pleasure of eating at Mission Chinese in San Francisco Kung Pao Pastrami I knew little about Danny Bowien, Korean born adopted as an infant by a family in Oklahoma where he lived until moving to SF.

Bonus points:
Out of the box ideas I'm planning on incorporating into my own cooking.
Fuchsia Dunlop makes an appearance or three.

I've been watching Nick Stellino's show on PBS lately, and getting more and more exasperated by it. Last night I boiled over and sent him a nasty note. Within half an hour I had an even nastier reply from him. Which actually surprised me: 1) what was he doing reading fan mail himself? and 2) where does he get off replying nastily to nasty fan mail?

I sent a generally apologetic reply to him, explaining a bit my exasperation. He hasn't replied yet, and probably won't, since he told me to never write him again. But I'll wait a bit and see if he replies. If not, I'll post the exchange as an example of what fans and food show stars shouldn't do.

Geo

Hi,

Last year on PBS, 'I'll have what Phil has,' is now Netflix's, 'Somebody Feed Phil.'

That Phil, he really gets around. First episode, Phil is in Bangkok. What a lucky guy.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:Last year on PBS, 'I'll have what Phil has,' is now Netflix's, 'Somebody Feed Phil.'

That Phil, he really gets around. First episode, Phil is in Bangkok. What a lucky guy.

Woo-hoo! Thanks for the heads -up. We love Phil.

Katie wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Last year on PBS, 'I'll have what Phil has,' is now Netflix's, 'Somebody Feed Phil.'

That Phil, he really gets around. First episode, Phil is in Bangkok. What a lucky guy.

Woo-hoo! Thanks for the heads -up. We love Phil.

Enjoyed the first season but his mugging is wearing thin. He says his show is intended to make foreign travel more appealing to travelphobes so I can handle the shallow commentary, but does he need to stop the taking a bite, waiting a couple of beats and then doing a wide-eyed stare into the lens routine.

Cathy2 wrote:What a lucky guy.

Amazing what a couple hundred million in "Everybody Loves Raymond" syndication bucks can do for your leisure time. He's like a gregarious Larry David.

Geo wrote:I've been watching Nick Stellino's show on PBS lately, and getting more and more exasperated by it. Last night I boiled over and sent him a nasty note. Within half an hour I had an even nastier reply from him. Which actually surprised me: 1) what was he doing reading fan mail himself? and 2) where does he get off replying nastily to nasty fan mail?
....

Geo

wait!!! You have to provide a little more detail

I haven't watched much of his show but his pasta ala russa is in our family's regular lineup, quick, easy and really delicious.

I really enjoy Nami on Just One Cookbook -- a YouTube cooking channel that focuses on Japanese cooking. She does a lot of dishes I came to love while traveling in Japan, so it's fun to watch for memories as well as cooking ideas. Here's one on Miso Katsu, but I've enjoyed all her videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB6Jz2BLJ2g

Caught an episode of Bizarre Foods last night and it was genuinely interesting. He did a road trip through the Franconian region of Germany and stopped in at various places along the way, including a German tapas-style restaurant, a castle hotel with a medieval communal meal, a German butcher and sausage maker and a family that was raising and selling an indigenous species of carp. The road-road trip format and the perspective on the region's culinary history made for a great episode.

My favorite trips in Europe have been regional road trips; it's about time someone followed that format for a TV show. If there's anyone in the industry reading this I will gladly volunteer for the job.

Amazon Prime now has New Scandinavian Cooking seasons three and four only.

Our favorite host is Andreas Vistead, who visited Culinary Historians before his show ever aired.

Regards,
Cathy2

C2,
We see him on his New Scandanavian cookery show that airs on the local PBS Create channel. He is a total kick: very dry sense of humour, interesting food, and interesting venue visits. Tnx for the cite!

Geo

I just started watching David Chang on his new Netflix series, “Ugly Delicious.” It's not really a cooking show per se. It's more of an essay covering food and culture. Good stuff.

Ugly Delicious - agreed. Really good stuff. Love it. David Chang seems like a guy I would hang out with a lot. Even though he said he wasn't a big fan of tacos before he did this show. There were several moments of what appeared to be real honesty when the discussions of race relations were brought up during the whole southern food / Nashville hot segments. I'm watching a few episodes now...err...I mean working.

There seems to be some pretty harsh judging of some of these people who have gotten lucky enough to host tv food travel shows, particularly Phil. I've enjoyed both versions of his show. The scenery and food are always gorgeous and I appreciate what Phil adds to the show.

Another show I love is Samantha Brown's Places to Love, which is in its first season. I've always liked her, and while the show often has very limited food scenes (more focused on travel highlights of locations visited), the food scenes shown are usually good enough to make my stomach start to growl.

seebee wrote:Ugly Delicious - agreed. Really good stuff. Love it. David Chang seems like a guy I would hang out with a lot. Even though he said he wasn't a big fan of tacos before he did this show. There were several moments of what appeared to be real honesty when the discussions of race relations were brought up during the whole southern food / Nashville hot segments. I'm watching a few episodes now...err...I mean working.

I don't think it comes up in the Taco episode but chef Rosio Sanchez, who's featured pretty heavily throughout the episode, is a native Chicagoan and graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Chicago.

Coogles wrote:

seebee wrote:I don't think it comes up in the Taco episode but chef Rosio Sanchez, who's featured pretty heavily throughout the episode, is a native Chicagoan and graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Chicago.

She was also featured in F%#k That's Delicious' Copenhagen episode.

Caught a few episodes of "Rotten" on Netflix. A not-especially-revelatory series on food adulteration/manipulation. They focus on one product per episode (e.g. honey, peanuts, garlic) and discuss sourcing and farming issues. Interesting tidbits: there was a huge honey adulteration scam being carried out by the Chicago-based office of a German company. Also, no real surprise here but chicken growers are paid via a "tournament" pricing scheme. The grower with the lowest feed cost/pound of birds gets the highest per-pound payment from the company at the expense of the growers who have the highest per-pound feed cost in a particular region (the example they had showed nearly 8 cents a pound at the top and under 5 cents a pound at the bottom). The target price is about 36 cents per chicken for the 7-week growing cycle.

Interesting factoids throughout.

A friend of mine in the video production business is producing a show with his son, who was a finalist in Master Chef Jr. a couple years ago. I'm posting this message on his behalf. I can personally vouch for both the quality of production as well as the cooking chops of young Mark. Please give it a watch.

My Friend Robbie in Mississippi wrote:We are doing a show for my youngest son Mark (the kid chef) on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. It’s an 8 episode, half hour weekly that started 2 weeks ago. It airs Saturday at 1PM.

We are trying to get the Youtube Channel subs up.

If you like culinary Tv and are so inclined, would you mind hitting his Youtube channel and perhaps subscribing?

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoXBs6 ... NHdVYk8Mlg

Hi- The Chew is being cancelled by ABC. I just checked though, and they are still taping shows for the rest of this season. Apparently Daphne Oz left the show last year, and Mario was removed from the show in December. The show is being replaced with another hour of GMA. The show has run for seven years.

Hi- 24 Hours to Hell and Back just started a few minutes ago on Fox. It is a Gordon Ramsey show where he has 24 hours to turn a restaurant around. I think they are doing eight episodes on Wednesdays. Hope this helps, Nancy

NFriday wrote:Hope this helps, Nancy

Only if it's a warning to not watch it!

=R=

Did anybody else see 24 Hours to Hell and Back? I was wondering how he was going to revamp a restaurant in 24 hours. It turns out that secret cameras were placed in the restaurant several weeks before Gordon showed up, and several people involved with the show, ate at the restaurant a few times, and so they kind of knew what they were dealing with. Gordon Ramsey then went in incognito to the restaurant, and tried the food himself. After being thoroughly disgusted with his meal, Gordon took off his disguise, and said why he was there, and then immediately closed the restaurant down for 24 hours. In 24 hours they completely rehabbed the place. They painted in the dining room, and replaced all of the ceiling lighting, and replaced all of the furniture. They also replaced all of the equipment in the kitchen, and threw out a ton of food, and scrubbed the kitchen down. I don't know how they were able to do all of that in 24 hours. Ramsey also updated the menu.

Vinny the guy who owned the restaurant had a real temper, and nobody got along with him. He also was not courteous when dealing with customers. The restaurant had lost $100,000 in the last year. They went back to the restaurant three months later, and business had picked up, and Vinny got along better with the employees and customers, but it was still a work in progress.

Next week they are going to be at a restaurant in the French Quarter. It is on Wednesdays at 8:00 on Fox.

When I tried to search to see where I had posted about this program before, I ran across a string of posts back in 2008, about a restaurant Ramsey was planning on opening in Chicago. Does anybody know what happened to the restaurant. Did it ever open up?

It's suppertime with Matty Matheson on viceland is definitely my favorite show in this genre at the moment. I'll admit his style is probably not for everyone, but I love it!

Can't wait to try his bolognese recipe. It looks fantastic